Pick Six Weekly: Enough is enough, and it’s time for a change

This year I finally cracked. There’s time for a change in fantasy football.

Joey Baskerville

This year I finally cracked. There’s time for a change in fantasy football.

Around this time last year, before Pick Six Weekly was the name of my weekly fantasy football column, I wrote about how fantasy football was as unpredictable as professional football itself.

I didn’t realize a year later this “silly little game” would be more erratic than I’ve ever seen it.
Consider this: Five of the top 10 scorers (Josh Freeman, Matt Cassel, Jerome Simpson, Matt Forte, Tim Tebow) from Week 16, championship week, had an average draft position (ADP) of 139.05.

Cincinnati’s Simpson (no offense, but the guy looks like someone you’d see chilling out at your local barbershop — not an NFL receiver) doesn’t even have an ADP, so I kind of left him out of the equation.

The way fantasy football played out in 2010, it pretty much ended any argument that the game wasn’t vastly based on luck. Sure, you still need some skill to be successful and having knowledge of the NFL is still important. But I’ve seen some of the best fantasy writers, bloggers and all other prognosticators end up with great information and not a ton of results from some of their predictions (read: Rashad Jennings).

I think it’s time that there are changes. Let’s tweak things that eliminate some of the luck.

Pick Six: Change the game

Here’s six ways the game can be changed for the better.

1. With games played three times out of the week — five times this week under unusual circumstances — I think the start/sit system needs to move to a format similar to that of fantasy basketball or baseball.

My barber agrees. He had a situation in Week 15 where Malcom Floyd was inactive after going throughout the week listed as questionable with implications that he’d play.
It doesn’t make sense for a owner to miss out on points because he couldn’t access the internet. If a player Sunday is listed as out, there should be a way to designate a player to sub in.

2. Let’s face it. Running backs are no longer dependable in a fake sport where consistency is king. So why aren’t running backs rewarded for being the leading ballcarrier? Carries and/or bonuses after hitting 100 rushing yards or so could be a way to balance out otherwise touchdown-heavy standard leagues that lend itself to lucky weeks.

3. Same thing goes for receivers and tight ends, which is a big reason why I’m a fan of PPR (points-per-reception) leagues.

4. Either get rid of the defense/special teams and kickers or better weigh the worth of those points. It’s hard enough to get consistency from backs with timeshares and receivers are hard enough to figure out week-to-week in today’s pass-heavy league. The concept of defense/special teams is flawed. Defense is completely different from special teams.

And any time a kicker can score close to 20 points when the offense has to simply get them in a position to kick, has always bothered me.

5. Decimal points. There’s nothing worse than seeing a player finish with nine points when he’s a yard short of 100 on the ground. And that one point decides the winner or loser of the week. 99 yards isn’t the same as 90 and shouldn’t be treated as such.

6. Standard leagues should become, ya know, standard, in all leagues. From the number of flex positions, if any, to the scoring format. There’s custom leagues for a reason.

I don’t claim to have all the answers and there’s likely more things to change in order to better the fake sport of fantasy football. I’d like to hear your suggestions or rebuttals as well. Let’s discuss.

Pick Six: Week 17 top scorers

Aaron Rodgers not only made up for lost time for the Green Bay Packers last Sunday. He sure as heck made up for last year’s dud against Seattle Week 16.

Look for Rodgers to have similar numbers against Chicago, perhaps 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns or more.